BARQIYYA I Word from the Director

The American University in Cairo
The Middle East Studies Program
Volume 9 Issue 4
May, 2004
BARQIYYA
Word from the Director
The Paradox of Advice
IN T H I S
I S S U E
*W ord from the Director
Poetry ~
* Night in Hamdan by
Saadi Youssef
* The Last Bastion
By Kailash Kalyani
Middle East Talks
~
*Families and Households
in
History
*Religion, Rights, and
Globalization: Derria and
Forgiveness
Articles ~
*The Dilemma of Women
in Iraq
* An American Soldier
* The Dream and Reality of
Cairo: A Reflection
* Drawings on the Wall
Notice ~
*The Edward W. Said
Forum
I
find it necessary once more to visit
the claim that Middle East studies
have not benefited the United
States' foreign policy. I think the
claim is correct, but not because
these studies do not supply plenty of
sound knowledge about the
region, as reasoned by those who
propagate the claim. The main reason is that the US government
chooses, or is made to choose, the
wrong advisors.
tained the war did not allow for
other choices.
Neither could the policies that were
carried out after the occupation be
explained away as mere mistakes,
as has been done in recent days.
True, mistakes were made. Yet
when many are the size of icebergs-like firing all Baathist professionals, disbanding the entire army
and letting the looters loot the
museum and libraries-one begins to
Who would you say offered better suspect that the war project itself
council on Iraq, the opponents of was deeply flawed.
the war or those who egged the
administration on with fantastic the- From Middle East studies, the govories and grandiose projections? If ernment worked with extremist
we are to judge by the unhappy advisors. Those who had other truths
results so far (although results are not about the area were not asked.
the only criterion the war should be The media too, did not much seek
judged by), then the answer is stark- their input. Power does not value
ly obvious: The critics who sued for truth until it becomes desperate,
peace were right, even if their until it fears loss of control.
motives and reasoning diverged.
Thus the paradox of advice: The
To be sure, there was a "third party" erroneous guidance of the chosen
who advocated war with numer- was heeded, whereas the sound
ous qualifications. But deceit, "sex- council of the critics shunned. The
ing up" of evidence (note the outcome has been much death
debasement of sex) and disregard and destruction and fear. "Beware
for international law and contrary of the one hundred percent loyal,"
opinions all were essential for wag- said the Peruvian poet Cesar
ing it. In reality there were only two Vallejo.
options, either for the conquest of
Iraq or against it. The zealous, By Sharif Elmusa
uncompromising mindset that cap-
MIDDLE EAST TALKS
Families
and
Households
T
reorganized and disciplined so as to ensure that children
he annual history seminar of the Department of
of Egypt were brought up by mothers, who were the preArabic Studies, titled Families and Households in
servers and prevailers of the scientific medical knowledge
History, was held on 18-20 March this year. The
within the family.
seminar hosted a number of scholars both from and outside Egypt. While some of the lectures were conducted in
Along the same lines Hanan Kholousy, in her lecture
Arabic, most of them were in English. Overall, a variety
Nuclearizing the Family in Modern Egypt, 1898-1936, disof issues ranging from the families and households in thecussed the issue of nationalization of the Egyptian family
ory and historiography to the families and households in
and changing roles of women within this context.
current history were discussed. One of the topics that
However, she focused on the institution of marriage and
was touched upon during the course of the seminar was
marriage laws in that period. According to Kholousy, the
the transformation of families and households in the
laws that were passed during the early 19th and late 19th
nineteenth century. Along these lines, two lecturers, Alan
centuries did not really improve the situation of women.
Mikhail from the University of
Indeed, the marital law of the periCalifornia at Berkeley and Hanan
od was aimed to create a new sense
Kholousy from New York
The
domestication
of
of patriarchal order with seemingly
University discussed the transforminimal interference from the state.
mation of the Egyptian family in healthcare in Egypt was also
For instance, Kholousy argued, the
the 19th century.
related to new ideas on the law that limited polygamy reflected
the Egyptian state's desire to create
woman's role within
Alan Mikhail's lecture, The
nuclear families that fit into the conMedicalization of the Egyptian
the family and society.
text of the nation-state more so than
Family, focused on the way the prilarge families did. That is to say, the
vate sphere of family was regulatrelationship between the wife and
ed and disciplined through the employment of new
the husband was reformulated to serve the nation-buildnotions of healthcare. That is to say, Mikhail suggested
ing project, just as the relationship between mother and
that the medicalization of the family in the 19th century
child was regulated.
Egypt was closely linked to the changing nature of the
state and society. In other words, domestication of
healthcare reflected the larger project of social organiza- Overall, both lecturers nicely illustrated the ways in
tion along modern lines. According to Mikhail, the which new methods of discipline and control became visdomestication of healthcare in Egypt was also related to ible within the course of the 19th century and how they
new ideas on the woman's role within the family and penetrated the private sphere through various means,
society. Drawing on an analysis of Qasim Amin's writ- such as the domestication of healthcare or promulgation
ings, Mikhail claimed that Egyptian women turned out to of marriage laws. By doing that, the speakers also
be essential for the success of the modernist and national- demonstrated the changing nature of the state and goverist agenda, since women were given the role of bringing nance in 19th century Egypt.
up healthy children, especially sons, for the nation. Thus,
the problem of childhood and childcare was pushed into
the context of the progressive history of a nation. Hence,
By Hande Bayrak
the relationship between the mother and the child was
MIDDLE EAST TALKS
Religion,
Rights, and
Globalization: Derrida
and Forgiveness
B
A Lecture by Bryan S. Turner
ryan S. Turner, a Professor of Sociology at
Cambridge University and a leading social
theorist, gave three public lectures at AUC
on 29-31 March 2004. The lecture, Religion,
Rights and Globalization: Derrida and
Forgiveness, was the last one of the three, in
which Turner dealt with the place of religion in
the globalization theory.
By and large, Turner claims that the contemporary globalization theory lacks a solid discussion
of religion. He argues that religion is often
regarded as a response to secular modernity
and globalization, especially in the case of
Islam. Moreover, Turner states that these
responses -again especially in the case of Islamare commonly attributed to fundamentalism.
However, according to Turner, the so-called
Islamic reactions to globalization are not fundamentalist at all. On the contrary, Turner claims
that these movements are anti-traditionalist
since they are very much influenced by and
products of global flows and networks.
Therefore, he concludes that it is not appropriate to analyze these movements through classical sociology anymore. What is needed, in his
own words, is a global sociology.
Along these lines, Turner proposes to create a
sociology that is based on a global human rights
culture. From his perspective, a global human
rights culture requires the possibility of a cosmopolitan consciousness that brings about respect
and autonomy for cultures that are different
from ours. However, Turner says these global
human rights also create certain responsibilities.
For instance, he argues use of human rights culture to bomb others is not acceptable. One of
the most interesting parts of Turner's argument is
his claim that human rights culture has or should
have a religious flavor to it. He suggests that a
human rights culture with a religious underpinning may overcome the limits of the liberal
argument. That is to say, human rights can be
based on non-rational values. And yet, such an
attitude may be more effective in terms of promoting and protecting human rights. Having
said that, one of the questions that Turner's argument fails to acknowledge and one point that is
repeatedly raised by the audience is what to do
with religious and cultural differences on the
ground if a universal human rights culture is to
be created. To be precise, although Turner's
theory seems to be quite perfect on paper, the
question of application is yet to be answered.
By Hande Bayrak
The Creative Side The Creative Side The Creative Side The Creat
Poetry
N IG H T I N H A M D A N
We in Hamdan say:
Sleep when the date palms sleep
When the stars rise over a village
the lights of the huts are extinguished
the mosque and the old house
It is the long sleep
under the whispers of faded palm fronds: the long
death
This is Hamdan…
tuberculosis and date palms
In Hamdan we only listen to what we say
our night, the date palm, esparto grass
and the old river
where lemon leaves on the water float
They are green like water like your eyes I say
You from whose eyes we expect spring
How can a friend forget you?
I will meet you
when the setting of the stars covers Hamdan
when heavy night settles on the city
‹‹‹‹
and together we in the depths of Baghdad will
roam
when the setting of the stars covers Hamdan
Saadi Youssef
Translated by Khaled Mattawa
Saadi Youssef is a leading Iraqi poets, well-known
throughout the Arab world. He currently lives in
London. "Hamdan" is taken from The Space
Between Our Footsteps, 1998, edited by Naomi
Shihab Nye.
ative Side The Creative Side The Creative Side The Creative Side
The Last
Bastion
Movement seems to be
the theme of life
Or is there more?
I wonder
as to the brevity
of things
and my pretensions.
Some moments I live.
Deeply.
Others,
I fall through.
Insidiously.
Determination
will not move me,
resolve will not hold,
nor faith.
Love being
the last bastion...
Will it last?
Will I last
long enough
to see love prevail?
Will it prevail?
What of friends
and foes?
I am wrapped
by despair.
That foe of all
which lurks
In all moments
jumps in
and drowns all hope...
... all?
No.
I am here still,
with memories
Of hope and love
and friendships.
The ships will save me,
The lost sailor
shall see shore.
*
By Kailash Kalyani
AUC Alumni
An American
Soldier
M
y brother is an American soldier. He enlisted over a year
ago, not to become a hero
soliciting revenge on behalf of the victims of 9/11, but for the simple reason
of having something to do. He hoped
it would give him direction.
Heretofore he had drifted without
knowing what he wanted to do or
become. The flattering promises of
an U.S. Army recruiter seemed to
provide more than his ever-changing
career choices.
My brother survived boot camp. He
didn't enjoy himself but he learned
from it. As many soldiers do at this
point, he gained a greater appreciation for family and personal freedoms.
In a short time that appreciation
would grow stronger. Graduation
came and then deployment. My
brother was needed in Iraq. My parents had one day to say goodbye to
their son before he needed to report
to Fort Hood in Texas for additional
training.
After a few weeks, Rob was sent to
Tikrit, the birthplace of Saddam. He
was stationed outside the city in the
open desert with no pleasant landscape to divert the boring days
ahead. "Nothing but dust and flies,"
he told us during short and infrequent
calls made via satellite phone. As a
combat engineer, Rob's primary job
was to disarm and destroy Iraqi missiles and explosives. He also had to
guard those weapons until they were
destroyed. He rarely went on raids or
came in contact with anyone other
than a fellow American soldier.
Although the news is full of reports of
violence and uprisings in Iraq, my
brother witnessed very little of that.
Rob only recently returned to the
United States and waited till then to
talk to my mother about the men he
killed. Two men had tried to steal
weapons that US forces had collected. Rob and another soldier caught
them and instead of surrendering, the
Iraqis ran toward them. He told my
mother, "It happened so fast. I shot
them both." One of the men was shot
in the lung. "His face was completely
white. It didn't seem real. His mouth
kept opening and closing like a fish."
The other man was also fatally shot.
Both soldiers attempted CPR on the
dying men. Rob told us he just felt
numb after it happened. He still isn't
sure how to describe what he feels
when he remembers back, but he
doesn't feel sorry for himself. He
knew that killing was part of a soldier's job description even if he did
sign up with a type of boyhood innocence.
My brother is just one young man
caught up in the mess of war and his
story is not world media front-page
material. There are many more
American soldiers with similar experiences. They have not killed scores of
people, but they have killed. They
don't look forward to the death of others, but they also want to keep their
own lives. The increased violence in
southern Iraq makes me think of
those soldiers and the lives they are
taking as they follow orders. It makes
me wonder what they think and feel
when a battle is over.
Some of those American soldiers
may be hardened, but I hope this war
will have accomplished something.
When many of them go home, they
will return with the memory of men
they killed, of fallen friends, of innocent children lamenting dead parents
and of the chaotic destruction in the
streets they patrolled. Perhaps they
will return with experiences and voices loud enough to prevent in the
future what has happened in Iraq-at
least during their life-time. It seems
that every generation who has lived
without war is doomed to create it.
Submitted By Katherine Crisler
The Dilemma
of Women in Iraq
ore than one year after the
toppling
of
Saddam
Hussein’s regime there is still
fierce fighting between coalition
troops and armed militias in several
Iraqi cities. Recently a series of dramatic kidnappings of foreign reconstruction workers and journalists has
highlighted to the world the deteriorating security situation in the country. As June 30th (the date coalition
forces have promised to return sovereignty of Iraq to the Iraqis) quickly
approaches, rather than reconstruction of infrastructure and political
development, the primary concern of
the US and her allies is to quell the so
called Shia Intifada and regain control of the Sunni town of Falluja. It
wasn’t supposed to be like this. The
optimism many Iraqis surely felt following the collapse of the despised
regime must be difficult to retain as
the clumsy and often brutal occupation drags on.
The problems of
unemployment and lack of essential
services made familiar to Iraqis during 12 years of crippling sanctions
have been compounded in postSaddam Iraq by insecurity, political
uncertainty, and violence. Under
International Humanitarian Law, the
occupying forces are responsible for
the safety and protection of the civilian population. However, the chaotic
situation combined with the militarization of Iraqi society has resulted in a
huge increase in crime. Violence
against Iraqi women in the form of
abductions, beatings, rape, and murder has risen sharply in post-war Iraq.
that it was possible and necessary to
oppose both the regime of Saddam
Hussein and US policies towards
Iraq. On March 30, a large crowd of
AUC students, faculty, Egyptian
women’s rights activists, and other
interested persons gathered to hear
Dr. Al -Ali’s lecture entitled, "The
Impact of War and Economic
Sanctions on Women and Gender
Relations in Iraq."
Dr. Al-Ali provided historical background about women and gender
relations under the regime of
Saddam Hussein, the impact of the
Iran-Iraq war, the Gulf War, and the
effects of economic sanctions. It is a
commonly held belief by many in the
W est that Muslim women are summarily oppressed. Dr. Nadje Al-Ali
however, challenged this supposedly
self-evident truth when she discussed the unique history of Iraq.
Iraqi women under Saddam’s regime
were among the most educated in the
Middle East and could be found in all
vocations, including practicing law,
medicine, or teaching in Universities.
Although it is true that women in Iraq
were not politically active, this was
true of the general population as a
result of the nature of authoritarian
rule rather than because of gender
discrimination. During the Iraq-Iran
war (1980-1988), women were
pushed more into the work force and
public sphere because of the
absence of men who were engaged
in fighting.
who were able left the country, resulting in "brain drain." Approximately
five thousand children died each
month of malnutrition and disease
during the 1990’s, one of the side
effects of sanctions intended to
weaken the regime. Crime also rose
during the nineties leading to restrictions in women’s mobility and more
conservative dress. The possibility of
loosing respect and damaging family
honor led many fathers and brothers
to
become
more
protective.
However, because of the recent
wars, there were lots of widows and
female heads of households who had
an especially difficult time. Not surprisingly, prostitution became a necessary means of survival for many
women and their children. Dr. Al-Ali
noted that although the US-led war
resulted in more death and destruction many Iraqis were hopeful that the
removal of Saddam Hussein would
lead to improvements in their everyday lives and eventually a stable and
prosperous country. However, these
aspirations remain unfulfilled and
while most Iraqis are opposed to milta
i ry resistance because it is Iraqis
who are being killed, there is growing
resentment towards the occupying
forces. Iraqi women are in a very precarious position. Although they feel
sidelined in terms of the political
process, the lack of security keeps
many of them at home. It is not surprising that due to the large number
of rapes and abductions, many families are keeping their daughters at
Years of economic crisis resulting home rather than sending them to
from the 1991 Gulf War and the eco- school and women are waiting for law
The Institute for Gender and nomic sanctions that followed eroded and order to be restored before they
W omen’s Studies recently hosted Dr. the rights of Iraqi women. As jobs will look for work.
Nadje Al-Ali, a social anthropologist became scarce, with unemployment
and founding member of Act Together rates between 50-70%, women were W omen are finding it extremely diff
iW omen Against Sanctions and War increasingly pushed out of the labor cult to be a part of the process of
in Iraq, a London based organization market and back into their homes. building democracy in Iraq and they
of Iraqi expats, intellectuals, and W omen literally could not afford to have been largely absent from the
other activists originally committed to work any longer because of the process of drafting a constitution and
raising awareness in Britain about the expenses of childcare and trans- reforming the legal system. There
consequences of sanctions against portation, which the regime had pre- are some emerging women’s rights
Iraq and later to opposing the US-led viously subsidized. Schools deterio- groups in Iraq, and there have been
invasion. Act Together emphasized rated, education declined, and those occasions where Iraqi women have
M
The Dream
and Reality of Cairo:
A Reflect
s many of us approach our
final semester at AUC, it is
interesting to look back at the
expectations we arrived with as new
students, the many differences
between how we envisioned life in
Cairo, and how it has actually been. I
entered AUC as a graduate student
after already living in Cairo for a year,
having spent a semester here as a
study abroad student, and then
another semester studying Arabic
through ALI. So unlike many of my
colleagues today, my original application letter to the MES program
reflected personal knowledge of what
life in Cairo has to offer. When I look
back at how I felt as a new study
abroad student, though, the sense I
had of a dislocation between expectation and reality returns.
I spent my whole life being fascinated with ancient Egypt. I read every
book about mummies and pyramids I
could find (my parents insist I actually memorized some of them), and
dreamed of the day I could actually
visit Egypt. No italics could possibly
express the strength of my conviction
that Egypt was where I should be,
A
and would be, someday, somehow.
However self-generated my connection to Egypt, I had an unwavering
belief in it. Happily, when I was finally able to come live in Egypt, my new
life was congenial; though full of revelations of my own ignorance.
Rather than pushing me further into
Egyptology, my discovery of my formerly blissful lack of knowledge
about Egypt’s more modern history,
language, religion, and culture
spurred me to switch to Middle East
studies. Yet I learned more just from
living here than I ever could have
from classes and books.
I initially arrived not knowing if people in Egypt had grocery stores (yes)
or Mexican food (not really, though I
am a purist). These are trivial things,
but they reveal the way in which we
envision unknown places; simultaneously both as unlike and like home as
possible. I saw that Egypt had many
of the same characteristics as my
home city of Tucson, Arizona, yet I
was also constantly confronted by
surprising differences, and things
that I couldn’t understand. An imagined country, I have learned, is one
that consists of a body of knowledge
to be absorbed, without the inexplicability of real life. Poverty is a good
example of this. I arrived, as many
people do, with the understanding
that I was entering the Third World. I
could not expect things to be the way
they were in the US. Yet, I was presented with children selling tissue in
the street, and was unprepared, as I
was for the rather astounding wealth
that some families here enjoy. This
situation is not a fact to be memorized, but one facet of Egypt that simply exists without easy explanation or
solution.
Looking back at the person I was
when I first came to Cairo, I think that
life here has taught me many things.
The most important of these is that
my own imagination will never invent
the worst of a country, nor the best.
Reality has been infinitely more
intriguing than the books I read. I
was right to believe that life in Cairo
would teach me more than school,
but I did not anticipate the richness
and complexity that I glimpse more of
everyday.
he IGC lacks credibility among
the Iraqi people and is resented because of its consent for
and cooperation with the occupation.
Many Iraqi women fear that participation in Coalition Provisional Authority
sponsored women’s groups could
backfire, as association with the
occupation could make women’s
rights one of the targets for those
fighting the occupation and that legal
rights gained for women through
these venues could be reversed in
the future. In September 2003 one of
the only three female members of the
Iraqi Governing Council (IGC),
’Aquila Al-Hashimi, was assassinated
and in March Nisreen Mustafa AlBurwai, the only female member of
the Iraqi cabinet, narrowly escaped
an attempt on her life. The
Organization of Women’s Freedom in
Iraq has established a women’s shelter and is doing important work, however the group’s outspoken criticism
of Islamism as the cause of women’s
oppression has alienated many Iraqi
women and make the organization a
target of criticism and threats of violence. Although Iraqi women are
hesitant to align themselves with the
IGC or CPA supported women’s
groups because of potential backlash, they currently have no other
options for securing a place for
women in a future Iraqi government.
According to Dr. Nadje Al-Ali, the
strategy being adopted by many Iraqi
women is to wait and see. The most
immediate women’s rights issue in
Iraq today is the same concern facing
all citizens in the strife-ridden nation security. In the face of violence and
insecurity it is difficult for women to
participate in post-war society.
Whether women will be able to play
an equal part in the political process
of a new Iraq remains an unan-
T
Drawings on the Wall
ave you ever wondered
about the drawings near
the kiosk across from the
AUC library on Muhammad
Mahmoud Street?
Barqiya
decided to inquire about those
drawings and the people who
work there. Wetalked to Ahmad
Mahmoud, a distant nephew of
the owner (Am Badr), who travels from Helwan to Tahrir to
work in the kiosk. He is a recent
graduate of the faculty of
Education in the German
department
at
Helwan
University. He does know some
English but because it is his second foreign language he feels
more comfortable talking in
Arabic or German. When we
enquired about his maritalstatus
he asked us if we had a potential bride for him. Although he
was joking, Ahmad is currently
looking for a wife. . . . so look out
girls!
H
When asked about the A U C
community, Ahmad said all
Aucians are, kulu latifeen wa
hilween. He also encouraged
the students studying at AUC to
work hard so that they would
bring honor on Egypt like Ahmad
Zuwail. Ahmad and the others
who work at the local kiosk are
vigilant citizens who continually
lookout for the welfare of the
AUC community and their country. In the past they have been
asked by Egyptian security off
icers during periods of ’heightened security’ to lookout for sus-
picious people or vehicles and
were happy to provide this service.
Even though Ahmad has only
worked at the kiosk for a month
he was very helpful in answering
our questions about the drawings. All of them are made with
charcoal and depict singers and
political figures such as Oum
Kalthoum, Abdel Halim, Anwar
Sadat and Housni Moubarak.
The drawings are done by one
of the owner’s relatives. For an
example on price, a framed
drawing of Abdel Halim sells for
around 85 L.E.
When questioned about the quality of the
frames around some of the
drawings, Ahmad said that they
could be switched out for better
ones if requested.
Even though people have
bought a variety of drawings,
Ahmad insisted that the most
popular drawing sold was: elRayyis, taban! Ahmad told us
that many people come and look
at the drawings when they buy
drinks and snacks, but only
Egyptians ask questions about
TH E E D
WA R D
W . SAID
FO R U M
The Edward W. Said Forum is an
electronic network aimed at bringing
those interested in the work and values of Edward W. Said in contact
through an e-mail list. The mode of
contact is through electronic messages, which highlight activities and
post announcements related to
Edward Said -- as an intellectual,
critic, writer, and activist -- with the
goal of promoting his legacy. The
network headquarters is Cairo,
Egypt; it has been initiated by volunteer effort of friends of Said and
hosted by the American University in
Cairo (AUC). The Forum has been
launched on May 1st, 2004.
Quotations
by Edward Said to
remember:
Remember the solidarity here
and
everywhere
in
Latin
America, Africa, Europe, Asia
and Australia, and remember
also that there is a cause to
which many people have committed themselves, difficulties
and terrible obstacles notwithstanding. Why? Because it is a
just cause, a noble ideal, a
moral quest for equality and
human rights.
‹‹‹
Itake criticism so seriously as
to believe that, even in the midst
of a battle in which one is
unmistakably on one side
against another, there should be
criticism, because there must
be critical consciousness if
there are to be issues, problems, values, even lives to be
fought for . . . Criticism must
think of itself as life enhancing
and constitutively opposed to
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# 6165 and 6164.
ÃThe views expressed here are those of their authors and not necessarily those of Barqiyya, editorial board, or Middle East Studies Program